AFL? RIP. At least for now. Founded in 1987, the Arena Football League announced Monday it will shelve the 2009 season and will work toward "improving its economic model." The long-term future of the league is, at best, murky.

Quarterback Matt Ryan, a prime Rookie of the Year candidate, is not the only first-year player making a significant impact for the Atlanta Falcons, who have rebounded from last year's 4-12 nightmare to take an 8-5 record into next Sunday's key NFC South game against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The odds of having a premature baby are lowest in Vermont and highest in Mississippi. The March of Dimes mapped the stark state-by-state disparities in what it called a "report card" on prematurity Wednesday -- to track progress toward meeting a federal goal of lowering preterm births.

The odds of having a premature baby are lowest in Vermont and highest in Mississippi. The March of Dimes mapped the stark state-by-state disparities in what it called a "report card" on prematurity Wednesday -- to track progress toward meeting a federal goal of lowering preterm births.

Crude prices have backed off last month's run toward $150 a barrel. But they persist above $110 a barrel, a level that was hard to fathom even a year ago. The end of cheap oil heralds a potentially dramatic reshaping of the globalized trade flows that have emerged in the past two decades. Rising transport costs are suddenly a key factor in decisions about both where to place factories and how much inventory to stockpile.

The best way to look at the 81-game midpoint of the baseball season is to treat it like a check-up at the doctor's office get a gauge of your team's general health to see if there are signs of distress, then determine if corrective measures need to be taken.